View full sizeSherri Jones holds a copy of a study on the Alabama Poultry Industry outside the Federal Courthouse in Gadsden, Ala. April 16, 2013. (William Thornton / wthornton@al.com)

GADSDEN, Alabama --- Advocates and workers in the poultry industry held a news conference this morning to call on U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt to halt rules changes in the poultry industry that they say would make working conditions harder and reduce food safety.

The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, joined by workers and union members, held the event outside Aderholt's Gadsden office in the federal courthouse.

Aderholt, R-Haleyville, is the chairman of the House Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee. The groups were calling on him to block a proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture rule that would allow poultry companies to increase the speed of their chicken processing lines. They also want funding maintained to keep the number of federal food inspectors in the processing lines.

"Let's face it, poultry is a big industry," said Sherri Jones, a Mississippi-based organizer for the Coalition of Poultry Workers. "This is a human rights issue."

The groups contend that by increasing the speed of production lines, inspectors cannot adequately inspect the chickens for disease or contamination. And with speeds exceeding 175 birds per minute, the danger rises for workers on the lines.

Phyllis McKelvey, a retired food safety inspector, said she wants safe food and safety for workers as much as jobs in Alabama. She says workers in poultry plants already work long hours and are susceptible to disease as well as repetitive stress injuries, with little hope of adequate health care coverage.

"I've seen men get killed when it was 71 birds a minute," she said. "People get their fingers cut off at lower speeds. The USDA is doing everything they can to put disease and trash into our food. I don't want children eating chicken nuggets full of poop."

Natashia Ford, a former poultry worker, stood gripping a cane as she told her story. Living in Decatur, Ford worked for three months in a chicken plant when she began suffering head colds. She then developed nodules in her lungs, and struggles with breathing issues and persistent pain to this day. She hasn't been able to work since, and she blames the working conditions at the plant. She eventually sued the company for her healthcare costs.

Ford's story was one documented in a report by the SPLC and Alabama Appleseed, "Unsafe At These Speeds." Tom Fritzsche, a law fellow with the center's Immigrant Justice Project, said it took about six months to prepare the report, which was based on interviews with 300 poultry industry workers.

The poultry industry is the third largest in Alabama, Fritzsche said, and the proposed changes would only make an already difficult job even harder and more unsafe. In three-out-of-four cases interviewers talked to, workers had experienced some kind of significant pain or injury. Most felt pressure not to report them, he said.

"They're forced to endure almost constant pain," he said. "They can't stop the line. In the rush to process, it limits workers' access to breaks, or even to go to the bathroom."

Anne Marie Malecha, communications director for Aderholt, said Aderholt has spoken with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on the issue. Malecha said the USDA rule was proposed by the Obama Administration, and pointed out that the USDA's Under Secretary for Food Safety, Elizabeth Hagen, testified last month before Aderholt's subcommittee that the rule would not increase risk or reduce protections.

According to the administration, Malecha said, the rule changes would focus on poultry slaughter inspection, save about $90 million over three years and reduce illnesses by 5,000 per year.